Phonograph



L. H. MENTEL.

FHONOGRAPH AFPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEZ, 19171 l f 1 $25,648. Patented Dee. 23,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

L. H. MENTEL. I

PHONOGRAPH APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION man 1uNE2s. 1911.

Patented Dec. 23, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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Louis n. Yivinirrnn, or covINGToN, KENTUCKY.

PHONOGRAPH APLIANCE.

To all whom t may concern: p

Be it known that I, Louis H. MENTEL, a citizen of the United States, anda resident ot' Covington, in the county of Kenton and State of Kentucky,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PhonographAppliances, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relatesV to phonographs or talking machines.

The object of my invention is to provide means for automaticallystopping the rotation et the record of a phonograph when the stylus hasreached the end or" the operative part of the record groove; and to soprovide this means that it may be set to work properly in accordancewith any given record that may be used on the phonograph.

A further objectV of my invention is to provide a meter that willmeasure and indicate the amount of work done bv the motor ot thephonograph at any given time until the motor is run down and requireswinding again. Y

A further object of my invention is to effectively brush and clean therecord before and during the operation thereof.

A further object of my invention is to combine all ot these means in asimple ccmpact device adapted either to be constructed in thephonograph, or to be so provided as tobe applied to a phonograph alreadybuilt or in use.

My invention consists in the combination of parts and in the details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts as will hereinafter be more fullydescribed and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of part of a phonograph with my inventionapplied thereto fl Fig. 2 is a similar View showing a modification of myinvention; y

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the device as shown in Fig. 1; i

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical cross-section on a plane corresponding tothe line `lA-lof Fig. 1; and

F ig. 5 is another plan View, similar to Figs. 1 and 2, showing anothermodilication of my invention. y

As illustrated in Figs. 1, and il, there is the turn-table '1 rotated bya suitable motor not herein shown, and carrying the record SpecicatonofLetters Patent. Paten'bd Dec, 23V, 1919,

Application led June 25, 1917. Serial No. 176,764. i

2 for rotation therewith and to receive the stylus 3 supported with thesound-box' -l on the swinging arm 5l which has a support on other partsof the phonograph which are omitted for lack of space, only the front istaken out of the groove near the circular blank space 8 after therendition. Without some means tor automaticallystopping the rotationofthe record 2 or otherwise preventing further movement in toward'thecenter of the record, considerable damage may be done to the mechanismwherethe attendant forgets to perform these duties.

vFor the purpose ot' automatically stopping the rotation of theturntable 1 and the record 2 thereon, I provide, mounted on the casingtop 6 at one side of the turntable, a frame 9 whichhas journaled in iton a verticalV aXis a rather large wheel 10 with a rim V11v of rubber orother material adapted to make effective frictional contact with theedge of the turn-table 1. Turning coaXially with this wheel 10 is apini-on 12. Also journaled in the frame 9` on vertical axes are a trainof gears 13, 15, 17 and 19 having coaxial pinions 14, 16, 18 and20,respectively, the vfirst gear 13 of' the train meshing with the pinion12 andeach sucseeding gear meshing with the pinion of Y the precedinggear in the order enumerated;

the last pinion 2O ymeshing with a gear 21 coaxial withY the gear 17 andits pinion 18 about midway of the length of the frame. The arrangementof these gears is best seen by inspection of Figs. land '4C together Asmay 'be seen in Fig. 4, the last gear 21 has aI hub 22 iiXed on theshaft 23, which has a lower reduced part 24 below which it is journaled.in the lower part of the frame 9,

and the shaft 25 of the.v gear 17 andpinionv 18 is hollow and fitsaround the reduced part 24;, thus having its journal bearing, enablingthe shaft 23 to turn independently of it.

The shaft 23 projects a considerable distance above the top of the frame9, and is threaded for a considerable distance downward from its upperend. A circular dialplate 26 is fastened on the upper side of the frame9 so that the shaft 23 projects up through its center. Immediately underthe top of the frame 9 there is another gear 27 fitted to a thin-walledsleeve 28 which projects up loosely around the shaft 23 through the dialplate 26, and has the sleeve 29 of a hand 30 slipped down on it so thatthe hand extends radially across the dial plate. The tightness of lit ofthe sleeve 29 and the sleeve 28 is such that the hand will turn with thesleeve 28 except when moved by direct engagement; this arrangement beinglike that lof the hour hand on an ordinary clock. A

gear 31 has a pinion 32 coaxial with it and is journaled in the frame 9on a vertical axis to mesh with a pinion 33 on the shaft of the gear 19,and to have its pinion 32 mesh with the gear 27.

Immediately above the hand 30, the shaft 23 has a collar 34 fixed to itand a bell crank comprising arms 35 and 36 is pivoted on the shaft 23and is held down on the top of this collar 34 under a fiber or othersuitable frictional contact washer 37 under the yielding pressure of ahelical spring- 38, which is held down and may have its pressureadjusted by a thumb nut 39 screwed on the threaded upper part of theshaft 23 and held in adjusted position by a lock nut 40. The arm 35extends substantially radially across the dial-plate on the side next tothe turn-table 1, and is bent downward and carries on its end a shoe 41having a face of suitable material to make eiiicient frictional contactwith the periphery of the turn-table 1 when the arm 35 is swung towardsaid turn-table. The other arm 36 extends about at right angles to thearm 35, substantially radially across the dial-plate and across to ahollow segment 42 that extends a little over half the way around thedial-plate, a short distance radially outward therefrom throughout itslength concentric with the dial-plate on the side remote from theturn-table 1. The arm 36 has a bent down part 43 lying outside thehollow segment 427 and this segment 42 has its radially outward sideprovided with a slot 44 throughout its length, out through which extendsthe stirrup 45 that is fixed to one end of a flexible extension element46 tting inside the hollow segment 42 and extending from the stirrup 45out through one end of the segment 42 substantially radially across theturn-table 1 and the record 2 mounted thereon, as is best seen in Fig.1; it being understood that the frame 9 and mechanism just described isso located ou the top 6 of the phonograph casing that the extensionelement 46 will have-this relation to the turn-table and record whenextended from the segment 42. This mounting of the frame 9 on the top 6is preferably by means of a pivot 47 on a plate 48 that is fixed to thetop 63 and a tension spring 49 is stretched between a lug 50 on theinner side of the plate 48 and a lug 51 on an adjacent side of the frame9. 'Ihe result of this arrangement is that the spring 49 normallyyieldably holds the mechanism toward the turn-table 1 so that the wheel10 has its friction rim 11 automatically adjusted to any slightirregularities in the periphery of the turn-table 1, thereby causing thedriving of the mechanism by thc turn-table to be more efficient anduniform. Also with the mechanism thus pivotally mounted it may bemanually swung away from the turn-table, so that it is not driven by theturn-table; this being useful, for instance, when the stylus 3 is beingproperly located at the beginning` of rendition.

About one-half of the dial-plate 26 on the side next to the turn-table 1is provided with graduations 52, and the bell crank that comprises thetwo arms 35 and 36 also comprises a hand or pointer 53 that travels overthe graduations 52 as the bell crank is swung around through the mediumof the train of gears hereinbefore described. The opposite part of thedial-plate 26 is provided with graduations 54 over which swings the hand30 as it is swung around by its .hereinbefore described.

The other end part of the flexible element 46 has mounted on it a brush55 that extends downward and bears on the face of the record; whileextending upward therefrom there is preferably a small lug or handlethat is grasped to manipulate the element 46.

Thus constructed, when the record 2 has been properly placed on theturn-table 1, the element 46 is pulled out of its inclosing segment 42,drawing the brush 55 radially inward across the record a suitabledistance; which action draws the bell crank around with the element 46,due to the engagement of the parts 43 and 45 and swinging the hand 53along the graduations 52, so that the extent of swinging of the bellcrank and the distance of withdrawal of the shoe 41 from the turn-tableperiphery is thus indicated. The graduations 52 as here shown indicatethe number of revolutions the turntable 1 will have to make to bring theshoe 41 back into contact with the turn-table periphery. In Fig. 1 thesolid lines indicate the positions of the bell crank and the ele-` ment46 before this setting operation; while the dotted lines indicate thesepositions after the setting operation. The record shown is one requiring325 turns of the turn-table 1 to render the selection recorded upon therecord; this being indicated by the mark- -rendition the shoe 4l willhave made such contact with the turn-table periphery when the stylus hasreached the end of the operative part of the groove 7 in near the blankspace 8 as to stop the turning of the turntable against the turningforce of the motor,

ywhich motor, as before stated, is not shown herein; it being understoodthat my invention is especially adapted for working in conjunction witha spring motor such as is usually employed for turning phonographturn-tables. A

If another record is to be used requiring a different number ofrevolutions, the element 46 will be set accordingly as indicated by thehand 53 on the graduations 52. With the brush 55 bearing on the face ofthe record, if it is drawn inwardly thereacross with sufficientslowness, the record will be well brushed and cleaned prior to placingthe stylus `in the groove 7 and as the brush 55 travels radially outwardacross the face of the record during the rendition, any dust particlesthat may light on the record or any particles that may be raised by thestylus 3 from the record will be brushed aside so as not to interferewith the correct operation of the phonograph.

Another and perhaps more important function of the element 46, however,is the indication of the correct degree of withdrawal of the shoe 41from the turn-table periphery, independently of any dial arrangement.such as that comprising the graduations 52. Thus the brush 55 is solocated on the element 46 that in the example shown herein the end ofthe brush remote from the end of the element 46, and radially outwardlytherefrom across the record, coincides substantially with the last turnof the groove 7 in next to the space 8, as seen in Fig. 1, when the shoe4l has been swung far enough away from the turn-table periphery topermit the rendition before again reaching said periphery and stoppingthe turn-table. Most rec ords are of either one of two diameters; andthe brush 55 is preferably made of such length that this radiallyoutward end of the brush, remote from the end of the element -4-6, willindicate the proper adjustment for incident with the last turn of thegroove 7,

the shoe 41 will of course be swung a lesser distance away. from theturn-table so as to reach the turn-table sooner and thus stop theturn-table Vafter the rendition by this smaller record. l

In any case it will be seen that at the completion of the rendition theelement 46 with its brush 55 will be drawn so far off the face of therecord that the removal of the record and placing of another record willnot be hindered.

While this function of the element 46 to indicate the proper adjustmentof the mechanism is highly useful in that it dispenses with the dial, itwill be understood that it is useful only where all the records have thesaine number of turns of the groove 7 in a given distance radiallyacross the record.

For instance, some records have 100 turns per inch, while othershave'l50 turns. Thus if the device is constructed for this use for onekind of record it will be necessary to resort to the dial for, propersetting for a record having a less or greater number of turns per inch.Therefore, it will be seen that rmy device provided with both the dialand the element 46 functioning as an indicating element is ladapted forany contingency; while'theV brush 55 of course functions to clean therecord whether the ele-y ment 46 is functioning as an indicating elementor not. Also my invention is useful whether either the dial or theelement 45 be dispensed with, since if it has the dial alone it mayreadily be set for any given kind of record.

The gears driving the hand 30 are so de'- signed and proportioned'thatthe hand will pass a succeeding one ofthe graduations each time a recordhas been played, so that it may be readily noted how many records havebeen played since the last winding of the motor. For instance in Vtheexample, the graduations 54 are 0, l, 2, 3, 4. The hand 30 is set at 0when the motor is wound, and supposing that the motor is capable ofrunning the turn-table l until four selections have been rendered, thehand 30 pointing to 4 will indicate that the motor should be woundagain. These graduations are of or average record; as, for instance,with'the B25-turn record of the example. That is to say the motor wouldbe .capable Vof giving the turn-table 1300 turns.

' ln the modification shown in Fig. 2, instead of having the arms 35 and36 com-- prised in a Vbell crank, the arm 35 is fixed concentric to agear 35`me'shing with a pinion 35a on the shaft 23; while the arm 36 ismounted directly onl the shaft 23 in the same Vmanner as the bell crankinthe preceding example. rlChus the arm 36 swings through a greaterangle than does the arm 35. The result 1s that the'hollow segment 42 maybe of considerably less radius so that it is contained under the dialplate 26. Thus arranged the segment lf2 has the slot -lf/ in its top andthe dial plate 26 has a coincident slot i4. The iiexible element 46 hasits stirrup e5 extending up through these slots around the arm 36 andthus coperates with said arm in a manner similar to that described forthe element of the preceding example. The arm 36 has the pointer 53mounted directly on its end, dispensing with the separate hand 53 of thepreceding example; and the graduations 52 are of greater angular extentaround the dial to correspond with the Igreater angle of swinging of thearm 36. Since these graduations extend nearly all the way around thedial, the motor-meter graduations 5% over which the hand 30 travels arearranged radially inwardly and the hand 30 correspondingly' shortened ascompared with the hand 30 in the preceding example.

rlhe other details of this example are suhstantially the same as thoseof Figs. l, 3 and il, as is also the method of operation of the device.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5 the construction is similar to thatof Fig. 2, but the stirrup 45 of the flexible element e6 lies on therear side only of the arm 36, so that the element LlG be used to drawthe arm 36 the required distance around the dial which, through thegearing, not shown in this view, will swing the arm 35 with its shoe Lllthe required distance away from the turn-table; and then the element 4Gmay be drawn back into the hollow segment 42 so that the mechanism isrelieved of drawing this element back into this segment. Thus thefreedom of operation of the device is somewhat increased over that wherethe mechanism must draw the element 4G gradually into the segment. Forautomatically drawing the element d6 back into the segment after it hasperformed its function, the tension spring 57 has one end connected tothe stirrup 4:5 and extends around a sheave 58 coaxial with the shaft23, and has its other end fixed to a lug 59 on some fixed part of thedevice.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with record-moving means, astopping element therefor, means whereby said element is moved tostopping position during rendition, and indicating means moving over theface of a record operatively related to said record-moving means toindicate, in connection with said record, the degree lof movement ofsaid element away from said position before rendition.

2. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with record-moving means, astopping element therefor, means whereby said element is moved tostopping position during rendition, indicating means to indicate, inconnection with a record operatively related to said record-moving meansthe degree of movement of said element away from said position beforerendition, and additional indicating means operatively connected to theaforesaid indicating means to indicate the degree of movement of saidelement.

3. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with record-moving means, astopping element therefor moved to stopping position during rendition,indicating means moving over the face of a record operatively related tosaid record-moving means to indicate, in connection with said record,the degree of movement of said element away from said position beforerendition, and additional indicating means operatively connected to theaforesaid indicating means to also indicate the degree of movement ofsaid element away from said position before rendition.

l. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with record-moving means, astopping element therefor, means whereby said element is moved tostopping position during rendition, means to indicate, in Connectionwith a record operatively related to said record-moving means, thedegree of movement of said element away from said position beforerendition, a dial, a hand to move across said dial, and a gearedoperative connection between said hand and said stopping element, tomove said hand to indicate the degree of movement of saidV record-movingmeans.

5. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with a record-carrying turntable, a stopping element for said turn table malring frictional contactwith the periphery thereof, rotary means making frictional contact withsaid periphery and operatively connect-ed to said element to move saidelement to stopping position during rendition, and a yieldable mountingfor said rotary means and said stopping element whereby they areyieldably held against said periphery.

6. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with record-moving means, astopping element therefor, means whereby said element is moved tostopping position during rendition, and means moving across part of arecord operatively related to said record-moving means to indicate, inconnection with said record, the degree of movement of said stoppingelement away from said position before rendition.

7. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with record-moving means, astopping element therefor, means whereby said element is moved tostopping position during rendition, graduated means, means moved, withthe movement of said stopping element, along said graduated means, andan indicating element adapted to move, with the movement of saidstopping element, across vthe face of a record operatively related tosaid record-moving means, to indicate, in connection with said record,the degree of movement of said stopping element away from said positionbefore rendition.

8. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with record-moving` means,a stopping element therefor, means whereby said element is moved tostopping position during rendition, and an indicating element adapted tomove, with the movement of said stopping element, across the face of arecord operatively related to said record-moving means, to indicate thedegree of movement of said stopping element away from said positionbefore rendition.

9. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with record-moving means, astopping element therefor, means whereby said element is moved tostopping position during rendition, anda brush adapted to move, with themovement of said stopping element, across and in contact with the faceof a record operatively related to said recordmoving means, to indicatethe degree of movement of said stopping element away from said positionbefore rendition.

10. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with record-moving means,a stopping element therefor, means whereby said element is moved tostopping position during rendition, and a brush adapted to move, withthe movement of said stopping element, across and in contact with theface of a record operatively related to said recordmoving means, toindicate the degree of movement of said stopping element away from saidposition before rendition, different parts of said brush indicating theproper degree of said movement for records of di 'fferent sizes.

11. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with a record-movingmeans, a stopping element therefor, means whereby said element is movedto stopping position during rendition, an arm swung by said stoppingelement, a hollow segment having a longitudinal slot, a flexibleindicating'element in said segment and extending therefrom, and meansextending from said indicating element through said slot and engagingwith said arm, whereby said indicating element is adapted to move, withthe movement of said stopping element, across the face of a recordoperatively related to said record-moving means to indicate the degreeof movement of said stopping element away from said position beforerendition.

12. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with a record-movingmeans, a stopping element therefor, means whereby said element is movedto stopping position during rendition, an arm swung by said stoppingelement, a hollow segment having a longitudinal slot, a flexibieindicating element in said segment and extending therefrom, meansextending from said indicating element through said slot and engagingwith said arm, whereby said indicating ele` ment is adapted to move,with the movement of said stopping element, across the face of a recordoperatively related to said record-moving means to indicate the degreeof movement of said stopping element away from said position beforerendition, and a brush on said indicating element to make contact withthe face of the record when said element moves across said face.

13. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with a record-movingmeans, a stopping element therefor, means whereby said element is movedto stopping position during rendition, an arm swung by said stoppingelement, a hollow segment having a longitudinal slot, a flexibleindicating element in said segment and extending therefrom, meansextending from said indicating element through said slot and engagingwith said arm, whereby said indicating element is adapted to move, withthe movement of said stopping element, across the face of a recordoperatively related to said recordmoving means to indicate the degree ofmovement of said stopping element away from said position beforerendition, and a brush on said indicating element to make contact withthe face of the record when said element moves across said face,different parts of said brush indicating the proper degree of saidmovement for records of different sizes.

14. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with a record-carryingturn-table, a stopping element moved into position to contact with saidturn-table during rendition, graduated means, means moved, with themovement of said stopping element, along said graduated means, and anindicating element adapted to move, with the movement of said stoppingelement, across the face of a record carried on said turn table toindicate the degree of movement of said stopping element away from itscontacting position before rendition.

15. In a phonograph appliance, in combination with a record-carryingturn-table, a stopping element moved into position to contact with saidturn-table during rendition, and an indicating element adapted to move,with the movement of said stopping element, across the face of a recordcarried on said turn-table,

16. In a phonograph appliance, in oombination With a record-carryingturn-table, a stopping element moved into position to Contact with saidturn-table during rendition, an arm swung by said stopping element, Lhollow segment having a longitudinal slot, 2L flexible indicatingelement in said Segment and extending therefrom, and means extendingfrom said indicating element through said slot and engagin with saidarm, whereby Said indicating e ement is adapted to move, With themovement of said stopping element, across the face of a record carriedon said turn-table to indicate the degree of movement of said stopping15 element away from its contacting position before rendition.

LOUIS H. MENTEL.

l/Vitnesses CLARENCE PERDEW, IRENE PARKER.

